Letter tray



E. S. GAVIN LETTER TRAY Oct. 10, 1944.

Filed Dec. 20, 1941 INVENTOR. EARL 3. GA w/v.

M w-M ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 10, 1944 LETTER TRAY Earl S. Gavin, Ludlow, Ky., assignor to The Globe- Wernicke 00., Norwood, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application December 20, 1941, Serial No. 423,813

3 Claims.

This invention relates to letter trays of the type disclosed in Patent No. 2,235,709 in the name of T. A. Hearn et al., and in Design Patent No. 112,771 in the name of Francis F. Braun and Thomas Hearn. In those patents a letter tray is disclosed having two or more shelves in which upper shelves are unsupported at the front to permit free access to the tray from the front and sides. The tray mentioned above is also provided with an inclined bottom, the front of which is curved to permit ready access to papers in the tray.

The present invention is directed toward an improvement of the letter tray disclosed in said patent in that each tray is made from a single piece of sheet metal whereby the cost is greatly reduced without decreasing the strength or rigidity of the structure. It will be understood that the tray may have any desired number of shelves which are stacked one upon the other by means of stacking elements of any desired type and, of course, a single tray may be used alone if desired. In the drawing I have shown a stacking device of the type disclosed in Design Patent No. 122,109 in the name of R. F. Baird.

It is an object of my invention to provide a tray structure having all the advantages of trays according to the above mentioned patents, which will be considerably cheaper to construct both from the standpoint of reduction in the amount of material used and in the amount of fabrication required.

This and other objects of my invention which will be pointed out in more detail hereinafter, or which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading this specification, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment.

Reference is now made to the drawing forming a part hereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an assembly of trays according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale of a corner of a tray taken on the line 3-3 of Fig- 1.

Fig. 4 is a partial cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on a still greater scale taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a blank from which a tray is formed.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 6 showing a slightly modified blank.

Fig. 8 is a View similar to Fig. 3 showing the corner construction where the blank of Fig. 7 is used.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I provide a letter tray made from a single sheet of metal cut out in the form of a suitable blank, bent into form, and which may be finished in any desired manner. Such a tray may be used by itself or with the use of stacking elements, a multiple arrangement of trays is provided. The tray has a slanting floor, whereby papers thrown into the tray will slide to the rear and be neatly aligned in the tray and the front of the floor is downwardly curved as disclosed in the abovementioned patents, somewhat short of the length of papers to be filed in said tray, whereby easy access for, the fingers is provided for removing papers from the tray. In Fig. 6 I have shown a blank providing a substantially rectangular bottom portion In, side portions H and l2, 2. rear portion l3 in which the portions ll, I2 and 13 are arranged to be bent upwardly along the score lines indicated in the drawing to form side and rear walls of the tray. The portion I0 is perforated as at M and I5, the perforations preferably being slightly compressed as shown in better detail in Fig. 5, for the provision of rubber grommets I6 which provide feet at the rear of the tray. The area about the perforation I5 is depressed to permit the grommets IE to be substantially flush with the bottom of the tray.

Each of the portions H, I2 and I3 is provided with extensions Ha, Ha and 13a which are rolled as shown in the other figures, to provide stiffening ribs along the tops of the side and rear walls. The bottom portion II] has a similar portion ma which is also rolled to stiffen the front of the bottom. The forward region of the bottom H is curved downwardly as best seen in Figs. 2 and 4, for the reasons described above, and in order to stiffen the curved portion which I designated as lllb, depressions or grooves lllc are formed therein. Slots I! are provided at the juncture of the portions Illa and lilb to receive cylindrical rubber elements L8 which provide feet at the front of the tray. The cylindrical elements are slid over the roll portion Illa and enter into the portion IT. The feet I 6 and [8 permit the trays to be placed on a highly polished surface without injuring the same, and since each tray is so provided it makes no difierence which tray is placed on the bottom.

In order to strengthen the side and rear walls and also to provide attaching means for the stacking elements I spot-weld thereto the corner pieces [9. These are disclosed in the aforementioned Design Patent 122,109 and comprise strips of sheet metal formed to have a central flat attaching area and roughly circular head to each side thereof. The beads serve to stiffen the members l9 and also receive the prongs of the stacking elements 29. 7

If the blank is shaped as shown in Fig. '7 having the additional tabs 2|, these tabs are curved to meet as shown in Fig. 8, and they too are spot-welded to the member i9. This gives the structure a little more strength and a slightly smoother appearance from the inside of the tray.

It will be noted thatthe major portion of the bottom H3. slopes although a narrow portion at the rear in the region of the feet i8 is not sloped so that the feet [6 may bear squarely on a supporting surface. There is a slight bend in the bottom indicated at 22 in Figs. 3 and 8.

It will be observed that the manufacture of a tray according to this invention is very simple, involving only a cutting out operation, a forming operation, a few spot-welding operations in the attachment of the grommets l6 and cylindrical members l8. Such a tray can be made very cheaply and by virtue of its construction, has extreme rigidity.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A letter tray of the class having a floor sloping downwardly toward the rear and curved downwardly at the front, said tray being formed from a single sheet of metal having a major rectangular portion defining a floor, minor portions bent up therefrom forming side and rear walls the adjacent edges of which are spaced apart to form apertures, the forward portion of said floor being curved downwardly and provided with stifiening ribs substantially normal to the axis of said curve, and corner pieces joining said side and rear walls and spot-welded thereto, said corner pieces having stiffening ribs in the form of open ended channels to accommodate a stacking device.

2. A letter tray of the class having a floor sloping downwardly toward the rear and curved downwardly at the front, said tray being formed from'a single sheet of metal having a major rectangular portion defining a floor, minor portions bent up therefrom forming side and rear walls the adjacent edges of which are spaced apart to form apertures, the forward portion of said floor being curved downwardly and provided with stiffening ribs substantially normal to the axis of said curve, and corner pieces joining said side and rear walls and spot-welded thereto, said corner pieces having stiffening ribs, said 'side and rear walls having extensions disposed to cover said corner pieces on the inside.

3. A letter tray formed from a single sheet of metal having a major rectangular portion defining a floor, minor portions bent up therefrom forming side and rear walls, and corner pieces joining said side and rear walls and spot welded thereto on the outer surface thereof, said corner pieces having longitudinally extending outwardly projecting stiffening ribs forming with said Walls open ended channels to accommodate a stacking device.

' EARL S. GAVIN. 

